


Would You Tear My Castle Down?

by Bara_no_Uta



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon - Musical, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, What Could Have Been, except slightly canon divergent due to the nonexistence of the Music Meister, which also means no traveling Earths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 04:58:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10404441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bara_no_Uta/pseuds/Bara_no_Uta
Summary: On Tarana's home planet, people are honest with each other and themselves, and the society is better and more peaceful for it. Couldn't Earth benefit from that? With this intention in mind, she creates a device that results in the citizens of National City singing out their true feelings.Maggie and Alex confess for the first time that they love each other. Overwhelmed and scared of being this close to someone, Maggie runs. Can Alex convince her she won't break her heart?Kara overhears Lena singing, which she feels guilty for. It's clearly personal. But Lena is hurting, so under the guise of Supergirl having told her about it, she drops by for lunch and to reassure her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I swore that if Lena wasn't in the musical episode, and especially knowing Alex and Maggie weren't in it either -- which really surprised me because Chyler has a great voice -- I was gonna write my own version. So this is how I think it could have happened. The plot was heavily inspired by the Buffy musical episode ("Once More, With Feeling") but also draws influence from the Grey's Anatomy musical episode ("Song Beneath the Song"). I didn't write my own songs because trust me that would have been a disaster lol (I've tried before). Anyway, there's a track listing in the end notes, in case you're curious. I didn't include the ENTIRETY of any songs, both because of copyright and because I would rather just include the parts that fit best. (In my experience, having characters sing a lot in a story can get boring quite quickly. I tried my best to avoid that happening.)  
> A full track list is in the end notes. Oh, I should also add that this is my first time trying to balance two plots at the same time, so I hope I did okay! I really wanted it to be like an episode actually would be (or at least could be), to the best of my ability. Plus, as much as I love Supercorp, I also really love Sanvers.

            Earthlings are liars, Tarana thought. Even when they don’t actively speak untruths, they conceal their true feelings from each other. Wouldn’t things be easier if they were just _honest_? On her home planet, people didn’t conceal their hearts. Some were ugly, yes, but that ugliness was always brought to light, which opened up the possibility of teaching.

            Humans even lied to themselves, which she was sure created only further dozens of problems for everybody. How could they deal with things when they couldn’t even confront them?

            This thought combined with a rudimentary understanding of Earth culture led her to hatch a plan. She started with just National City as a test. To see if maybe some of Earth’s problems could be alleviated with a little honesty… even if this was the only way to do it. For people to be honest with themselves, and not to deny what was in their hearts.

            In the morning, everything would be different…

* * *

 

            Lena closed out of the browser window. She kept finding herself pulled to looking for updates on whether her mother had been found, even though she knew all too well that there wasn’t going to be any good news. No, if she knew anything about her mother – which, sadly, she knew her all too well – it was that Lillian would be difficult to catch. Lena suspected that her being caught wouldn’t happen until some major mayhem had happened again and this time, Supergirl having the opportunity.

            The worst part was that all of the news stories’ comments sections were the same. Maybe one or two anonymous posters proclaiming her mother to be a hero. But in all of the comment sections, at least one person always brought up that Lillian wasn’t the first Luthor to be like this, and hey, even if she had been cleared of helping Metallo escape, wasn’t Lena Luthor bound to be just as bad as the rest of her family? Sometimes it was just casual wariness, which she was used to, but sometimes it could become painfully vitriolic. She shouldn’t be reading them, but somehow, she kept doing it anyway. Lena tried so hard not to let it get to her, but sometimes…

            She sighed. No matter what she did, it was never good enough for anybody. That was the type of self-pitying thought she tried to avoid, but right now, she just couldn’t shake it.

            Lena stood. “ _Now I feel the weight of the world is on my shoulders._ ” She walked to the balcony, looking out and feeling slightly soothed by the early spring chill. She crossed her arms. “ _What can you do when your good isn’t good enough, and all that you touch tumbles down? ‘Cause my best intentions keep making a mess of things. I just wanna fix it somehow…”_

            Tears welled in her eyes despite her attempts to fight them away. “ _But how many times will it take? Oh, how many times will it take for me to get it right…? To get it right…?_ ”

            What was she doing? Barely holding back tears, singing on her balcony? This wasn’t like her. Granted, there was only one person who would be able to see or hear her from the balcony, and it was the one person she might trust enough to be okay being caught like this. But this wasn’t like her.

            Lena took a deep breath, then returned to her office, resolving to bury herself in her work until she forgot this strange incident.

 

           Meanwhile, Mon-El was in Kara’s living room area again. She hadn’t invited him in, but he already had a key, which meant he came in anyway.

            “Mon-El, please, just… _go_ ,” Kara sighed. She felt utterly worn down. A breakup was hard enough to begin with, and it was made ten times harder by having the former partner refuse to take no for an answer.

            “I don’t understand,” he said, and she could see in his eyes that he truly didn’t. “In all of those movies that you watch, the girl _always_ forgives the guy by now. I’ve done everything right, Kara! I’m still fighting for you!”

            Kara could tell he was being sincere, and she didn’t know whether that was better or worse. Either way, anger flared in her. “You’ve done everything right?” she repeated in disbelief, rising from the couch. “You lied to me, Mon-El! About who you are – about everything! From the very beginning!”

            “I made a _mistake_. I’m sorry, okay?”

            “You should be sorry!” She was stepping closer, not feeling like she was even being heard. She never felt like he truly listened to her, she was realizing now, and the frustration only boiled further. “You didn’t just make a mistake once. You had time and time again you could have told me. I started to _trust_ you, and you knew that! Did you think I didn’t deserve to know the truth—”

            Without warning, Mon-El took another piece of bad advice from the movies. He grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her.

            Suddenly repulsed, she pushed him away. “Stop it! You don’t get to just—kiss me without my consent!” Her voice was rising, and she took several steps back, putting physical distance between the two of them. It wasn’t the first time he had kissed her without her consent. She forgave the first one, because they had all thought he was on his deathbed, but there was no excuse for this. “Get _out!_ ”

            He seemed to shrink, like he truly didn’t understand what he did wrong. “But Kara… I still love you.”

            Her arms wrapped around herself as she tried to hold back the tears until he left. She knew that if he saw her cry, he might be even more resistant to leaving. But rather than an insistence, she couldn’t stop the words that left her mouth. “ _I know I can’t take one more step towards you. ‘Cause all that’s waiting is regret. And don’t you know I’m not your ghost anymore? You lost the love I loved the most…_ ”

            Mon-El’s eyes went wide as Kara started crying. He hadn’t meant for this. He had never—well, since falling for her—he had never meant to hurt her.

            “ _I learned to live half alive… and now you want me one more time?_ ” She shook her head, unable to look away from him as she was all but pleading for him to understand that she couldn’t do this anymore. She couldn’t be with him. “ _And who do you think you are? Running ‘round leaving scars… collecting your jar of hearts, and tearing love apart. You’re gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul. So don’t come back to me. Who do you think you are?_ ”

            “Kara, I…” The apology died on his lips, useless. He didn’t know how to win her back anymore. He had tried everything he could think of. Why didn’t she take him back after he apologized and fought for her and kissed her? “Please, give me another chance. I’ll be better this time. I’m better with you – you make me a better man. I’m lost without you.”

            She wiped pointlessly at the tears that still rolled down her cheeks. “ _It took so long just to feel alright. Remember how to put back the light in my eyes. I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed. ‘Cause you broke all your promises. And now you’re back? You don’t get to get me back._ ”

            Out of arguments, he took a step back, looking toward the door. Wondering if maybe, the best thing to do really was to leave. But it was completely contrary to everything he had learned about an Earth man’s role in relationships, and more importantly to him, what he wanted to do.

            Why wasn’t he leaving? She just wanted him gone. “ _And who do you think you are? Running ‘round leaving scars. Collecting your jar of hearts, and tearing love apart. You’re gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul. So don’t come back for me. Don’t come back at all!_ ”

            Finally, he nodded. “I _will_ come back—I will fight for you, Kara Zor-El. But for now… okay.”

            He left, and she collapsed onto the couch. …No. She didn’t want to be alone right now.

 

            In Alex’s apartment, she and Maggie were making breakfast when Alex pulled Maggie into a hug, lightly touching their foreheads together. “ _Where do I begin, My Love? Starting with the things I haven’t said enough of. Starting with the day you changed my life, and ending with the way I feel tonight. Where do I begin?_ ”

            Overwhelmed by the intensity of what she was feeling, Maggie pulled away, only half paying attention as she got another pancake started. “ _Where do I belong when you’re not here? This is way beyond my darkest fear. I don’t know where I end or where I start. Each mile in between is way too far. Where do I begin?_ ”

            Alex started preparing fruit to go with it, the two working together almost side-by-side. “ _I’ve always counted all my blessings, knowing you’d defend me and stand by my side._ ”

            “ _If only I didn’t lose my senses each time I intended for these words to come out right…_ ” Maggie continued.

            Together, they sang, “ _Where do I begin, My Love?_ ”

            Alex smiled, throwing a quick look at Maggie. Her girlfriend was focused on making and not burning the pancakes, it seemed, but that was okay. She felt the love back all the same right now. “ _Starting with the morning you brought me the sun…_ ”

            Honestly, Maggie’s palms were sweating and she was barely sure how she was still flipping pancakes, but she couldn’t stop her voice from coming out. “ _Starting with the stars from out of space. You took a few and lit up my face. Where do I begin?—_ ”

            Abruptly, Maggie stopped, shaking her head and putting the last pancake onto a plate. “No—I—I can’t do this.”

            “Maggie?”

            She sped out of the apartment without even looking back at Alex, her heart pounding and already hurting. She nearly crashed into Kara on her way out, but she couldn’t even stop to try to figure out what in the world Kara was doing here. All she could think about was getting as far away as possible.

            Before her own hurt could even register, Alex saw Kara, and that trumped her own sadness. Her sister was near tears already, and as soon as their gazes connected, Kara was crying again. Alex wasted no time in going to her side and gently guiding her to the couch.

            “Mon-El just won’t leave me alone,” Kara hiccupped. “I-I thought I wanted to be with him, but he _lied_ , and he just doesn’t get it. He even kissed me again.”

            Alex pulled her into a hug. “And you’re sure you want things to be over between the two of you,” she said, mostly just to confirm.

            She nodded. “I thought… being Supergirl meant I wouldn’t be able to be happy with a human. Because, I—Alex, I can never feel human – feel _normal_ – no matter how many times I try. So I thought, maybe if I dated someone more like me…”

            “You thought you would be happier.” When Kara nodded again, she added, “But you weren’t.”

            “Yeah.” She hugged Alex tighter, though she was mindful of her strength. “What if I can never be happy? It seems like everybody around me is finding someone special, and I—I’m scared I’m never going to get to have that.”

            Her own relationship confusion at the moment stuck in her mind again. “Relationships can be hard,” she said, not considering now a good time to try to figure out what had happened. “But Kara, one thing that I know is that you _can_ be happy. You don’t need a guy to be happy, you know? I’m sure you can get that, too, but… don’t let your happiness depend on that.”

            She paused, taking a few seconds to reflect on those words. Wasn’t love what was supposed to make people happy? James had been happy when he was with Lucy, and she had been happy when things were going well with James. Winn was happy with Lyra. Alex was happy with Maggie—

            Wait, come to think of it, Maggie had looked pretty upset when she ran into her earlier. Kara pulled away, her tears stopping as she shifted gears in her head, now concerned for Alex. “Is everything okay between you and Maggie?”

            Of course Kara would notice that. Alex hugged herself, feeling insecure. She had felt so loved earlier, and now it was so hard not to feel rejected. “I don’t know. No. We… We said we love each other for the first time, earlier, sort of. And then she just took off.”

            She tucked some hair behind Alex’s ear as she thought it over. She didn’t know Maggie well enough to feel she had any idea what had upset her, but she did have a pretty good idea of how the problem could be solved. “I think… give her some space, first, but I think you guys should talk about it. I’m sure you’ll be able to work it out.”

            “I hope so.” She bit her lip. “Kara, I love her.”

            “I know. But she’d have to be crazy not to love you back, okay?” She offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “And you’ll always have me. I know it’s not the same, but you’ll always have me.”

            It wasn’t the _same_ , but that didn’t mean it mattered less. “That means more to me than any girl,” she murmured.

            Kara pulled her in for another hug, squeezing as tight as she dared.

            It was a little too tight, but Alex didn’t even mind.

            When the two separated, Alex asked, “Want to have breakfast with me? It’s almost all prepared.”

            “I’ll never say no to food,” she answered with a smile.

            Several minutes later, their breakfast was interrupted by a call from J’onn. He called Alex first.

            “Hey, J’onn. What’s going on?” Alex asked.

            “That’s what we’re currently investigating. National City has a situation on our hands.”

            “Alright. I’ll be there soon.” Realizing he would potentially want to call in Supergirl as well, she added, “And Kara’s with me.”

            “Excellent. I’ll be glad to have my best agents working on it.”

 

            Once they were at the DEO, J’onn gave them a brief rundown of the situation. All around National City, people were breaking into song. “I know it seems innocuous,” he continued, “but it’s causing a lot of problems. Fights are breaking out, because, based on the reports, it seems that the singing is forcing people to admit their true feelings about things… which isn’t always a good thing.

            “More importantly, something like this affecting everyone in National City means that we suspect some sort of alien technology to be involved, and we don’t know what else the culprit may be capable of with it.”

            Alex nodded as she took the information in. “Do we know of any planets where bursting into song like that is normal?”

            Winn scooted his chair back. “Already ran it through the database. Nothing.” He had almost been a little disappointed. Some sort of planet that was like a musical all day, every day sounded fascinating.

            “Okay… any other leads?”

            J’onn shook his head. “Not yet, but we’ve only just begun our investigation.”

            She nodded again. “Winn, can you do a scan for any abnormal energy patterns or signals across the city? If it’s something being broadcast and it’s still affecting everybody, we should be able to pick up something.”

            “Already running.” Needless to say, a scan of every signal and energy pattern in the entire city took some time to run.

            Supergirl shifted, her arms crossed as she thought. “I’ll go do a scan of the city, see if I can find anything out.”

            As Supergirl left, Alex looked to J’onn, wondering if he had ended up singing. Somehow, what jumped to mind was him singing some Taylor Swift song about M’gann, and she coughed back a laugh.

            The disbelieving but rather amused look he directed at her told Alex that he had heard those thoughts and was definitely _not_ singing Taylor Swift.

 

            She was just in a funk today, Lena determined. It was only natural that everybody had days like this sometimes, she supposed. Where all of the things they tried not to think about rose to the surface anyway. It wasn’t the first time it had happened to her.

            She thought about Kara. Maybe she should invite her over or out for lunch later. Being around her always had a way of cheering Lena up. Kara was… such a ray of sunshine, and at the same time, so legitimately cared about her that Lena felt she could barely comprehend it.

            Maybe it was selfish of her to wish for more. She was more than happy to be “just friends” with Kara. No matter what other feelings were present, Kara, even as a platonic friend, was undoubtedly the light of her life, and even with everything that had happened recently, she had never been as happy as she was since meeting Kara. But… she would be lying if she tried to say that there wasn’t a part of her who wanted more.

            Who was she kidding, though? It was one thing for Kara to be her friend, because Kara could have as many friends as she wanted. But to date? Who would want to date a Luthor? Granted, nobody but Kara would want to even be _friends_ with a Luthor, unless they wanted something from her. Still, for Supergirl to date a Luthor…

            Most of all, she was afraid of ruining their friendship. “ _Untouchable, like a distant diamond sky…_ ” she began, looking out the window. Her hands went to her phone, fidgeting with it as she wondered whether to invite her out. “ _I’m reaching out, and I just can’t tell you why. I’m caught up in you… I’m caught up in you. Untouchable, burning brighter than the sun… and when you’re close, I feel like coming undone._ ”

            She sighed softly, standing and going to sit on her couch. She felt more comfortable there. More _Lena_ and less _Lena Luthor, CEO of L-Corp_. And secretly, stashed nearby were the CatCo Magazine issues that had stories Kara had written about her accomplishments. “ _You’re the light inside my eyes. You give me a reason to keep trying. You give me more than I could dream. And you bring me to my knees… You bring me to my knees._ ”

            Lena never thought she would feel this way about anyone. She had had crushes – hell, she had even had a girlfriend, once, even if that sort of ended in enormous disaster, because really why had she thought _Veronica Sinclair_ was a good person to date, but that was a whole other issue – but she had never felt like this. It was the kind of feeling she used to read about and see in movies and think was completely made up, or at the very least, heavily exaggerated.

            “ _I’m caught up in you. Untouchable, burning brighter than the sun… And when you’re close I feel like coming undone._ ”

            But who was she kidding? Kara would never feel this way about her. Kara would never love her like she loved Kara. How could she? And yet… part of her wondered sometimes. If maybe Kara would. She knew that Kara truly loved her as a friend. Platonic though it was, it was a deep love. Kara would do anything for her, and no matter what happened with their friendship, Lena would do anything for Kara.

            Whether platonic or romantic in nature, it was so strange and unfamiliar for Lena that Kara matched her feelings in full intensity. That had never happened before. It was more than she had ever dared truly let herself so much as hope for.

            “ _I don’t deserve a chance like this. I don’t deserve a love that gives me everything. You’re everything I want… And I don’t deserve you._

            “ _And I don’t deserve you…_ ”

            Tears were in her eyes again, but she continued to fight them back, even as there was a small tremor to her breath. Her arms were crossed tightly around herself, as though to offer some small degree of protection against the vulnerability she felt as she went into a refrain.

            “ _What can you do when your good isn’t good enough and it all that you touch tumbles down? ‘Cause my best intentions keep making a mess of things. I just wanna fix it somehow… But how many times will it take?_ ” She took a sharp breath, fighting hard to keep the tears back. “ _Oh, how many times will it take to get it right? To get it right…?_ ”

            Meanwhile, Kara bit her lip, guilt washing over her. She couldn’t help listening to Lena’s voice – it was beautiful – but as she heard Lena nearly crying, she was sure that it was nothing Lena would have wanted overheard. She wasn’t even particularly close to L-Corp, but that was the thing with super hearing…

            She wondered who Lena was singing about. Honestly, the idea that it could be _her_ didn’t even cross Kara’s mind. After all, Lena was… _Lena_. But it was true that she had no idea who the possible candidates could be. Maybe somebody Lena worked with? Say, her assistant, or a business partner? She imagined some guy, tall and handsome, who would have to be absolutely out of his mind not to be attracted to Lena.

            Honestly, who _wouldn’t_ be attracted to Lena? …That was a thought she decided not to spend too much time on.

 

            One of the things about the DEO was that recently, they had actually begun working with the police force from time to time – as the FBI, of course. Some of that probably had to do with Alex’s own ‘alliance’ with Maggie, admittedly.

            And speaking of, she was all too quick to volunteer to talk to the police and see if they had any leads. J’onn had a knowing smile that made it clear he knew exactly who she was going to talk to, but it didn’t seem like a bad idea. It could start to seem suspicious, risking their cover as FBI agents, except that Maggie was already aware of the DEO, and Maggie was almost certainly the only one Alex was talking to about these things. As far as anybody but Maggie knew, Alex could just be visiting her girlfriend. …Maybe it did jeopardize the security a little bit, still, but that’s how he justified allowing it.

            On the way to the police station, all Alex could think about was Maggie running out earlier. She thought she was beginning to understand what was going on, after reflecting on some of their past conversations.

            “Maggie!” she called out.

            Maggie fidgeted, mouth opening as she searched her mind for an excuse. If Alex was here to talk about earlier, she wasn’t sure she was ready yet.

            “I’m, um—I’m here on DEO business,” she said, seeing that Maggie wasn’t ready to jump right into it yet.

            Of course, she knew that it was going to end up personal sooner or later, because this was Alex, her girlfriend, and it needed to happen. But the idea of being able to ease into it was reassuring, so she nodded. “Alright.”

            The two of them went to Maggie’s office. Alex took a seat opposite Maggie’s desk. For now, she thought, she would put her feelings aside and focus on DEO business. Except when she opened her mouth, those weren’t the words that came out of her mouth.

            “ _The day I first met you, you told me you’d never fall in love. But now that I get you, I know fear is what it really was._ ”

            Maggie frowned. Alex had said she was here on DEO business. This wasn’t DEO business. She felt lied to. No, this conversation needed to be had. But right now? Like this? She began to internally panic a little. “Alex,” she said firmly.

            “ _Now here we are, so close, yet so far. Haven’t I passed the test? When will you realize, Baby, I’m not like the rest?_ ”

            Alex was right about that, she knew. Alex had more than proven herself. She had no reason to still feel this way – this afraid of those three words.

            “ _Don’t wanna break your heart, wanna give your heart a break. I know you’re scared it’s wrong, like you might make a mistake. There’s just one life to live and there’s no time to wait, to wait. So let me give your heart a break, give your heart a break._ ”

            Maggie shifted, getting more uncomfortable. “Alex…” she said again, more uncertain this time. She didn’t know how to take this.

            “ _Let me give your heart a break, your heart a break. There’s just so much you can take. Give your heart a break._ ”

            She took a deep breath. Alex was right. She had to face this. She trusted Alex – really, she did. So this instinctive fear she had… She needed to get past it.

            “ _Let me give your heart a break, your heart a break. Oh yeah, yeah…_ ”

            “Okay.” Maggie stood, going to Alex’s side, putting her hand on Alex’s arm. “Okay.”

            Alex stood as well, looking into Maggie’s eyes. “Okay?” she repeated, worried.

            She cupped Alex’s cheek in her hand. “You’re right. I got scared. But I…I’ll trust you.”

            “You won’t regret it, I promise.” She kissed her, smiling into it. Then she pulled away, realizing what had just happened and blushing brightly. “Oh. Uh, I’m sorry, that definitely… Well, actually, it’s sort of what I came here to talk to you about.”

            “The singing?” she guessed.

            “Yeah. So… you know the situation?”

            “I think so. We don’t have any leads yet, but wanna compare notes?”

            Alex nodded. There was always the chance one of them had some information the other didn’t.

 

            “Kara,” Winn’s voice came through her comm.. “I found something – an unusual signal. I’ll text you the coordinates.”

            “Great. I’ll check it out.”

            Forty seconds later, she was at an abandoned warehouse – what was it with villains and abandoned warehouses? Should she start beginning and ending every day with checking every abandoned warehouse in the city? Maybe she should.

            “Supergirl?” an alien asked. She was standing next to a device that was presumably the source of the signal affecting National City.

            “I’m going to have to shut this down,” she said, stepping forward.

            Tanara stepped protectively in front of her device. “Why?”

            That’s when Kara realized that this woman didn’t seem to have any ill intent. “What are you trying to do?”

            “I’m just trying to make Earth a more cooperative, happier place.” She crossed her arms. She didn’t know whether Supergirl would understand – the Kryptonian was known for stopping aliens that were deemed a threat, and it was clear that she had already been labeled a threat for some reason. “On my home planet, nobody hid their feelings from each other, much less themselves.”

           She couldn’t deny that that made a certain degree of sense, to think that if it had worked on her home planet, it surely must work here too. But the chaos in the city told a different story. “I would love if the world was more cooperative and happier. But forcing people to confront and admit feelings they aren’t ready for isn’t the way to do it. It’s causing harm.”

            “For now. But once they adjust—”

            “I can’t take that risk.”

            They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before Kara’s posture stood down. “I can see that your intentions were good – you aren’t a hostile. If you shut down your device, as long as you don’t start anything like this again in the future, you won’t be in any trouble,” she promised. She could see the defensiveness in the alien’s body language, and guessed that she assumed herself to be in trouble. But there was no reason to punish someone whose intentions were good, even if their actions caused harm as they went about it in the wrong way. “If you truly want to help make Earth a better place, I can help you find a way to do that.”

            Her shoulders slumped, but ultimately, she was relieved. Tanara shut off the device, handing it over to Supergirl, who she assumed would destroy it. “I would like that.”

            Kara smiled. “Okay. Sounds like a plan. Will you come with me, and we can look at jobs?”

            She nodded, and the two of them went to the DEO.

 

            Kara couldn’t shake the memory of Lena’s voice, which she still felt guilty about eavesdropping on. Couldn’t forget the words she sang. How lonely she sounded.

            There was only one thing to do, now that she had ensured the safety of National City and things were back to normal. She grabbed some lunch for the both of them and went to visit Lena.

            When Kara came in, Lena looked up from the documents she was reading and smiled. “Kara!”

            “Hey! I thought I’d drop by for lunch.” She smiled brightly, hopefully. They had long since stopped apologizing for coming by unannounced.

            Lena beamed. “I was just thinking of inviting you out.”

            Taking a seat on the couch, Kara got the food out of the takeout bag as Lena came over to join her. “So… crazy day, huh?”

            She managed a half-hearted smile. “I take it that it isn't just my building that has turned into the stage of the latest hit musical?”

            Kara nodded. “Supergirl said that all of National City was affected by this device that made everybody sing out their true feelings. You know, their deepest feelings, that maybe they don’t even like to admit to themselves…” She thought back to her conversation with Mon-El. How those words had come out that she wouldn’t have thought she meant, but realized as she sang them how true they really were. “But Supergirl stopped it.”

            Her smile turned uncomfortable as she looked away. That did fit in line with her own songs earlier, which… she would honestly rather forget about.

            She wondered how to broach it. It didn’t feel right for Lena not to know that she had heard, but of course there was no reasonable explanation as to how Kara Danvers could have overheard her. “So, um… Supergirl was telling me, she heard you singing earlier.”

            Lena mentally flinched as she wondered which song had been overheard. “What did she say about it?” she asked coolly, taking advantage of the fact that Kara didn’t know she knew. She was more or less okay with Kara knowing how she felt about herself, though she wouldn’t exactly have wanted to advertise it. But for Kara to know about her feelings for _her_ …

            “Just… You know, you seemed to have feelings for somebody… and be pretty… down on yourself.” Her gaze was concerned.

            She smiled sadly. “We all have days like that, don’t we?”

            “Yeah. But… you know you can always call me, right? You don’t have to go through it alone.” She looked at the tears gathering in Lena’s eyes, being fought back. Lena had been holding her tears back earlier, too. Kara placed a hand on Lena’s. “You don’t have to hold back.”

            Lena shook her head, though the motion nearly allowed her tears to fall.

            It was clear that Lena’s shaking her head was a disagreement with her words. And when she thought about what she knew about Lena… about how Lillian had treated her growing up…

            Kara couldn’t believe she was going to do this, but somehow it just felt right. And maybe… it was the best way to get her point across. To show her sincerity. She laced her and Lena’s fingers together. “ _Maybe no one told you there is strength in your tears_.”

            Lena’s eyes widened in surprise. Kara had definitely said she stopped the source of the sudden singing, and yet…

            “ _And so you fight to keep them from pouring out. But what if you unlock the gate that keeps your secret soul? Do you think there’s enough that you might drown?_ ”

            She wanted to tell Kara she didn’t need to sing this, but instead all that would come out was a choked, “Yes.”

            “ _If no one will listen if you decide to speak… If no one is left standing after the bombs explode… If no one wants to look at you for what you really are, I will be here still._ ”

            Her lip trembled, and Lena was rendered speechless – a true rarity for her. Because she knew that Kara _meant_ those words. Kara meant every single one of them, and nobody had ever been there for her like this before.

            Kara shifted her hand, cradling Lena’s in both of her own. “ _If you find your fists are raw and red from beating yourself down… If your legs have given out under the weight… If you find that you’ve been settling for a world of grey so you wouldn’t have to face your own hate…_ ”

            Her other arm wrapped around her body. She felt like Kara had seen her deepest feelings – and she supposed that was true, all things considered – and it was terrifying and almost freeing at the same time.

            “ _If no one will listen if you decide to speak… If no one is left standing after the bombs explode… If no one wants to look at you for what you really are, I will be here still._ ”

            Lena smiled, though her vision was blurred with tears so much that she could barely make out the caring expression she knew Kara wore. It was safe to cry with her, she thought, and she allowed the first tears to fall.

           She pulled Lena into a gentle hug. Remembering what was said a few seconds ago, she murmured, “It’s okay. I won’t let you drown.”

            Her face tucked into Kara’s shoulder, fitting easily, as though it belonged. As though she finally had somewhere she belonged.

            Lena cried only briefly, her sadness having dissipated in the caring presence of her one and only friend. When she pulled away, her smile was brighter and freer than she could remember it ever being. With Kara, she knew she was free to be herself.

            They just looked at each other for a few seconds before Lena decided to take a chance, because the moment just felt _right_. “Do you know how some of my favorite musicals end?”

            Kara shook her head. “How?”

            Lena placed a hand on Kara’s cheek, leaning forward just enough to make her intentions clear. “May I show you?”

            A blush crept up her neck as she realized exactly what Lena was referring to. “Yes.”

           Her heart swelled as she pressed a tentative kiss to Kara’s lips, pulling away just enough to check her reaction.

            It ignited something deep in her that she didn’t even know until now she had. Kara wrapped her arms around Lena, pulling her close just gently enough to make sure Lena knew she could pull away if desired, and bringing their lips together again. When Lena kissed back, she deepened it, mindful of her strength as she held Lena closer.

            Her fingers tangled in Kara’s hair, as she had only fantasized about before, and she kissed her passionately. “ _Kara_ ,” she breathed when they separated for air, desperate for more.

            But Kara didn’t want to rush things. She wasn’t sure how much experience Lena might or might not have with sex, but what she did know was that Lena didn’t have anywhere near as much experience as she deserved with _love_ , and that was what she wanted to give her. It was what she wanted to give her all along, even if until now she had tried to convince herself it was platonic. Lena mattered too much to her for her to want their first time to be rushed and on the couch. “So,” she said with a soft but slightly goofy smile.

            “So,” she echoed with a touch of amusement, though she was too happy to be terribly concerned with eloquence.

            “Do you want to… I don’t know, get dinner sometime? You could come over and we could watch a movie?”

            Her chest was warm, swelling with love and the knowledge of _being_ loved. “I would love that.”

            Kara smiled, shy and excited. “Maybe Saturday night?”

            “That sounds wonderful.”

            After a few more moments of simply smiling at each other, Kara’s expression turned concerned and a little sad. “And Lena? You are amazing. And you deserve every bit of this and more.”

            Her gaze dropped as she knew Kara must be referring to earlier. “I appreciate that you see me that way,” was the best she could manage, not yet able to agree.

            It was clear that it would take some time for Lena to learn to believe in herself. For now, Kara just kissed her forehead. “I do.”

 

            Maggie stopped by the DEO for lunch. Alex had texted her to let her know that the city’s musical extravaganza disaster was over, and Maggie wanted to check in on where the two of them stood.

            “Hey,” Maggie greeted. “Want lunch?”

            She grinned. “I’m starving.”

            The two of them began to walk side-by-side until they reached a point with relative privacy, and Maggie stopped, hands in her pockets. “So… I just wanted to check in, about earlier.”

            “Right.” Even though she knew they had been expressing their true feelings this morning and that at the police station, they had seemed to be okay again, her heart sped. “Well, you probably know this by nature of what was going on, but… I meant everything I said.”

            “Me, too. But I think I owe you an apology.” She shifted. This wasn’t something she had a lot of experience with, but it needed to be said. “I told you before that you don’t get to run. It’s not right for me to do it either. So I’m sorry. I can’t promise I won’t get scared again, but if I do, I’ll try to tell you, instead of just running out on you.”

            Alex bit back the automatic impulse to tell her that it was okay. It was okay, yes, in the sense that she wasn’t still upset about it. But it did hurt and make her worry at first. “I would appreciate that.” Worried Maggie might take that to mean she was mad, she stepped closer, tucking some hair behind Maggie’s ear. “I’m sorry you’ve been hurt before. But I promise, I’m not going anywhere.”

            She leaned up and kissed her. “Good. Then that makes two of us.”

**Author's Note:**

> Track List  
> Lena: "Get It Right" (Glee)  
> Kara: "Jar of Hearts" (Christina Perri)  
> Alex and Maggie: "Where Do I Begin" (Idina Menzel)  
> Lena: 'mash-up' put together by me of "Untouchable" (Taylor Swift), "I Don't Deserve You" (Plumb) and a refrain of "Get It Right" (Glee)  
> Alex: "Give Your Heart a Break" (Demi Lovato)  
> Kara: "If No One Will Listen" (Kelly Clarkson)


End file.
